Medication advice at mealtimes is hard to stomach

I've always been a bit confused about when to take medication - should it be before or after food?

- DR ROSEMARY LEONARD

I see on my packet of ibuprofen it says take after food, but the antibiotics I've just been given for a persistent urine infection says take before food. Does it really matter?For many medicines, it does not matter whether they are taken with or without food. That said, medicines are mostly absorbed from the small intestine, and food slows down the rate the stomach empties, and this means a drug will act more quickly if it is taken on an empty stomach, as it r